


Discovery Pt. 3

by orphan_account, RougemageNick



Series: Just a RWBY OS full of OCs... [29]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 09:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougemageNick/pseuds/RougemageNick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team SCRT's mission is over, and they try to lay back on their downtime. Team JNAS' mission is only beginning though, as the fortress in the Forest is stormed by Mickey and Anna, while the rest of the team go find the crashed bullhead and find something to help them combat their mysterious new threat...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discovery Pt. 3

**Author's Note:**

> SEE ENDNOTES FOR AUTHOR'S DETAILS!!!  
> RWBY HYPE IS RETURNING.  
> UPDATE: *Sigh...* Oh...My...Gods, it feels good to get back to writing. Hello, humans, I've finally returned to it!!! Damn, the RWBY hype train is picking up speed, and I gotta pick up my writing pace along with it, so hopefully I'll be returning to regular updates!!! And another thing...THIS TRILOGY OF CHAPTERS IS FINALLY COMPLETE...Enjoy, and I hope to see you reading the next chapters ^_^...Mzt out. Later, humans...

Discovery:

Sasha groaned as she heaved her sword up over her head to block the stinger of a deathstalker before tossing it off of her and turning, bringing her blade down through the scorpion's skull. It slumped dead as the dissolving body of yet another spidermonkey grimm was thrown at the tree to her right by Jay. She glanced back at Jay and Nick, leaning on her sword. Jay was holding one spidermonkey down on the ground under his foot, and another at the end of his tonfas in front of him. Nick was over wrestling with an Ursa Minor, which Nick had in a headlock under his left arm. The creature struggled and scratched at Nick's old-fashioned plate-armor, but couldn't even manage a scratch on the fortified metal before Nick cracked it's neck. At the same moment, Jay fired two shots, one aiming up, the other aiming down. The spidermonkeys dissolved in seconds before he sighed and sheathed his weapons.

"Oh. My. GODS, I'm so fucking BORED." he shouted, going and slumping against a tree with his chest, groaning loudly.

"What, killin' deadly monsters ain't enough for you?" Sasha sighed through her breath, which was still slightly burdened.

"Oh please...I did this for years...And you know what? I don't recall these things being so squishy." he said out loud, now standing and pacing quickly back and forth.

Nick walked over to them, hands on his hips, his breathing clearly labored, "Dude, these guys are just the peons...These are the little enemies that you face at the beginning of a game before you get good and strong. You've heard Mickey say it before, we're easily as skilled as some of the higher classmen...These aren't even the tip of the Grimm iceberg." he said to Jay. **  
**

Jay groaned more loudly as he kicked a tree randomly, "GODS, we have shit to DOOO!!! Let's go find the damn crash site guys. We can do this...We have to find things. Plus, this was the last of the exits, we've checked em and cleared em, let's get to the important shit already." he insisted, opening his scroll.

"Jay, we can't...Mickey and Anna are in there...We can't just go...Running aroun- what are you doing?" Sasha demanded as Jay continued typing on his scroll.

"I'm sending a message to Mickey...She won't get it until they're out of the bunker, but the Sentinel will preserve it until then while we go check the crash site. There are three of us. We can handle this...And with Anna there with her, Mickey will be fine." he explained.

"I uh...I almost think Sasha's right on this one...I'm normally all for cuttin' to the action, but don't you think we should at least wait? Don't you remember what Ozpin said? She can have us sent back if she wants..." Nick said, stretching himself out and leaning against a tree, trying to recharge his aura.

Jay groaned again, knocking his head against a tree with his thumb over the send button, "Come ooon, you two. This is what we're here for. This place is practically Grimm free anyway. Once we're done with this fortress, which Mickey is able to handle  **alone** if she was so inclined, our mission is done. Come on, we can do this. Don't be such drags about this. Mickey will forgive it if we can bring back something that proves it was worth it. Besides, we're the three who she wanted to go there anyway..." he reasoned, trying to convince them. **  
**

Sasha shook her head with a sneer, "For fucks sakes, what's got you acting like such a jackass today? Even worse than usual, and that's saying something. Can you please just try to  **not** fuck something up?" she demanded.

"Listen here Armstrong bitch, we've had more brushes with death since we got to Beacon than I would have during an entire year of travelling in the Grimm territory. It's been one thing after another, and now the worst thing we've ever faced has warned us about an even  **worse**  something coming our way, with the intention of hunting us down. We have no idea how small a window till whatever it is closes in on us, and we have no idea just how powerful it is. We've been **lucky** so far. Do you think that streak will last through this? And the only thing, the  **only** thing that's let me sleep is the hope that we have the  **slightest** chance of finding something helpful to us. So you'll excuse me for wanting to put a fucking rush order on finding it, thank you very much." he retorted immediately, one eye gold and the other crimson. There was silence for a few seconds as Nick and Sasha thought about what to do. After a few seconds, the couple glanced at eachother. Nick shrugged and Sasha groaned through her sigh, tilting her head back and heaving her heavy sword onto her shoulder.

"Fuck it, let's go..." she muttered. Jay sighed and suddenly smiled, standing a bit taller and laughing.

"Yes!!! Let's get going, guys. We've got a fuckton of ground to cover, and given Mickey's skill, we've only got about an hour max." he said as quickly hit the send button, then turned and took off running into the forest. Nick sighed and mouthed the word thanks to Sasha before they took off after him.

 

Anna struggled to keep the man silent as she tightened her hold on the axe, choking him harder until he stopped struggling and collapsed to the ground. Throughout the room that housed the stairwell, fourteen total men and women lay dead, dying, or unconscious at the hands of Mickey or Anna. Mickey trotted around the boxes to Anna's side, looking up and down around the room. She crouched down and pulled Anna with her.

"Is that all for floor three?" she whispered.

Anna nodded, "According to the map...I'm glad there are less here than on the first floor...I understand guarding the armory, but it was still annoying." she groaned. She thought again about the four men she'd encountered immediately upon jumping into the room. They had all trained their guns on her immediately. Their timing was incredibly precise, but Anna couldn't let a single one fire a shot, or risk giving away their position immediately. She put into use the auric Wave Motion attacks she'd practiced in Ms. Goodwitch's class and immediately sliced apart the guns they pointed, using the tip of her longsword, which she'd drawn with such speed that the men had neither the time nor the reaction speed to pull the trigger. Though well trained for regular people, they were still no match for the huntress who was top of her year at Signal.

The fortress was enormous, sporting twisting halls and large rooms on every floor. The last floor had held a treasure trove of computers, filled with data on the line-up of people present in the fortress, including their registered arms, posts, shift schedules, and comprehensive maps. It even displayed ranks, which gave hints as to the information each one was trusted with. The sole exception to the roster was the leader, which appeared on neither map nor list. But still, this information was an incredible find so early, and Mickey was practically giddy as she synced the computers with her scroll to access it remotely throughout the fortress. Whoever made this list was incredibly detailed. And as she looked over the information, Anna's theory made more and more sense. Which made it more and more funny, considering Anna's theory was simply a stab in the dark.

"This would be just like him..." she muttered as they approached the doors.

"What's like him?" Anna asked as they got into position.

"Oh, just like...Sol..." she responded as she reached for the door handle. "According to the information, there are four men outside this door. Let's hope this is accurate..." she said, crossing her fingers as she swung open the door...There were four rooms on this floor, each with varying numbers of guards, ranging from ten to thirteen. Each door they alternated between Mickey simply opening the door and sweeping the room with a galestorm, and Anna dashing in with illusions blazing while Mickey snuck in behind her to take out anyone before a sound was made. It had been annoying to say the least...Anna's mind came back to her as she looked over the map again.

"You've been doing positively divinely so far...I mean damn, this is pro-assassin stuff...So let's continue quickly...Jay's probably already gotten ansy, and convinced Sasha and Nick to follow him to the wreckage. Which means we have little over an hour to finish up here and get to the surface. To the hallway..." she commanded, sweeping around Anna to the door. Anna stood and moved over on the other side of the door, ready to look through. She could only produce illusions on people who she could directly see. She breathed deeply before Mickey swung the door open. She glanced out, finding only three guards. Two of them turned to look at the door, but Anna's illusion made them see only a closed door as she dashed out towards them. Anna made two quick swings, knocking the two who looked out with the heel of her staff before turning and making a wide swing with her axe, nearly beheading the last man, who turned just in time to watch Anna incapacitate his allies. But Anna's blade stopped short, barely touching his neck. The man didn't even whimper as Anna's axe head gently grazed his skin.

"You mind if we ask you a few questions? And before you answer, you should know that me asking...Is more of a formality." she whispered, smirking as Mickey looked out on the scene.

"Nice job Anna!!! Go team!!" Mickey whispered happily, stepping out into the hallway and putting her hands on the man's shoulders. "And yeah, she was right. The whole asking thing was indeed a formality. Let's talk." she growled before yanking the man back into the room. Anna quickly stepped back into the room with Mickey and closed to door behind her...

* * *

 

Sasha put her hand to her chin as she leaned left and right, trying to see something that wasn't there, or even just a trace of it. But she, like Nick next to her, could see nothing as they stood watching Jay walk in a large circle. He came back to stand next to them.

"So uh...What...Exactly are you seeing?" Sasha asked, rubbing her chin and closing her eyes, starting to feel a slight headache.

"For me, it looks like basically a giant half sphere rainbow...It's kinda shifty...And it's...Almost two dimensional...But for you guys, it's...Invisible...Oh, that headache your feeling is actually from looking at the field...You may not be able to see it, but the way the light is bent is still hard for your eyes to process. It's putting strain on your visual cortex-" Jay was suddenly interrupted by Sasha.

"Ahpahpah...No...Don't care. Just...Do whatever you're trying to do...And let's get this over with." she demanded, turning and walking off into the woods to skirt the perimeter for grimm.

Nick sighed, "She's right...Come on, we have to get this done." he said, reaching out towards the invisible field.

"You're uh...You're still like three feet from it...Now why don't you stop and back exactly one step, then take out your gun." he instructed. Nick stopped short and glanced back at his feet as he took a single step back and drew his gun in his left hand. Jay leaned over and nudged the gun a few times, directing its aim a little better for a few seconds before stepping back with satisfaction. "There...Ahem. Fire at will." he commanded in a smug tone. Nick sighed and fired a single shot, which seemed to crack the air for a second before the field suddenly broke down in a single wave that made Nick's head reel just to see. He almost stumbled for a few seconds before catching himself on a tree branch. He looked back at Jay, he had his arms crossed, and wore a wide grin.

"You could have warned be about that..." he groaned, straightening himself.

"Could have...But that wouldn't have been nearly as funny..." he retorted as they stepped towards the crashed bullhead, now visible. The small mechanical unit that had produced the field had been damaged by the bullet Nick fired. His jaw dropped as he ran over to the thing and looked it over.

"I...You...I...AHHHH!!! What the actual fuck?!? This is a Phantom Model x-0014!!! This is the best cloaking device made!!! Its production is monitored by the government, Jay...People aren't allowed to buy this...AND YOU JUST HAD ME SHOOT IT!!!!" he shouted in exasperation.

"Yeah yeah, it's fancy and it bends light, blah blah blah, just get it working again while I start searching." Jay said as he walked up to the front of the bullhead, where the shattered glass from the cockpit's windshield lay scattered across the forest floor.

"NO!!! Don't touch anything yet...I've got to case this crash so I can reset it when we leave...And by the way, you are  **so** fucking lucky I still carry my old Toolbox." he growled, pulling out a small metal box and opening it up, revealing two whole wings filled with small chips and assorted pieces on one side, and a wide variety of tools for detail work and more tough jobs. Jay sighed and walked to the treeline, sitting down against a tree and laying his head back to wait.

After a minute, Sasha came running into the crash site, looking around wildly, "I heard shouting...Is...Uh...Everything...Ok?" she said, looking around and sheathing her sword, which she still held in her hand from her last kill before she ran to the site.

"Everything...Is...Fiiine..." Nick said, barely paying attention to the question as he continued working, pulling out his scroll every now and then to look at the blueprints for the machine.

"Hey Nick, where'd you get blueprints for that?" Jay asked, only one eye open and watching.

"Uh...I...Took it off a private factory in the south...I...Was taking it for...Grant..." he muttered, using the firedust in his left hand, which streamed in a blue flame from the crystal on his palm to weld another wire in place quickly. After another three minutes passed, during which Jay continued enjoying the half silence as Sasha walked around the crash site, looking it over for herself, Nick finally replaced the panel, now repaired with Metal Dust, and screwed it back on. He leapt up triumphantly, "Fuck. Yeah. You may bow, for I am the king." he said, standing and stretching.

"Yes yes, we're all impressed now  **please**...Let's just get to it already..." Jay demanded, getting to his feet and walking over next to Nick as he stood in front of the broken windshield. They would have used the side door, if it hadn't been mangled into a nonfunctioning piece of steel, barring the entrance from that side. The left wing had been broken off completely, and the engine had been dragged over next to the machine, and the other wing was cracked and bent, with the engine hanging barely by a few tough cords that kept it in place. Nick carefully looked over the glass on the ground, taking quick pictures with a grid function added. He turned his scroll to the bullhead and snapped a few more pictures of the inside, climbing inside and taking another few pictures, then stepping out again.

"There, that's the quickest, easiest way to do it...Just...Try not to wreck shit too much..." he requested as he went to sit in the same place Jay had.

Sasha wandered around the clearing that had been made by the crash, kicking a few stumps of broken trees and looking around at the birds that flew around. Jay carefully examined the cracks in the metal panels on the inside of the cockpit, looking over the broken chair before moving to the back compartment. The metal was warm to the touch as he felt over the cracks, moving around the entire compartment and pulling tiles free using the claws on his tonfas, trying to find the slightest bend or clawmark. But there were none to be found.

"I...I must be missing something..." he mumbled to himself as rubbed his forehead, brushing aside his hair and climbing onto the hood of the bullhead, looking over the top of it and the wings. Nick stood up and walked over to the bullhead with Sasha as Jay got more visibly nervous, shaking his head and pacing on the top of the machine.

"Jay, calm down...We're just...Not looking everywhere we can...Where haven't you looked? Maybe he tore out a panel?" Nick offered, looking over the outside of the bullhead.

"I...Nick, do me a favor and shut it, I'm trying to think." he demanded, dropping down into the bullhead's cockpit again.

"Jay, seriously, he was just trying to fucking help, did you really have to-" Sasha was interrupted when Nick came back over to watch.

"No no, I don't care, he's just aggravated, and I understand that." Nick said, putting his arm over Sasha's shoulder as she fumed. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, which seemed to calm her a bit. "If Anna was here, she could calm him down, but right now...We've just got to try and let it go..." he said, leaning the side of his head against hers. She sighed, uncrossing her arms and putting one around Nick's body.

"This just...Fuck...Fuck everything...I'm missing something. I'm not looking somewhere. There is something I'm not seeing, and I just have to think..." he said, putting his head down on the dashboard above the controls, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"Any second now..." Nick muttered. He began to nod his head in rhythm with seconds passing...

Suddenly Jay's eyes shot open and he nearly leapt up, "OH!!! I think I have it!!!" he exclaimed, ducking behind the control panel.

"All according to plan." Nick muttered, smiling. Jay laid down on his back and shimmied back a little under the controls, pulling an already loose panel off and moving his hands up through the wires. He felt through them for anything left behind before pausing, considering what to do next. After another few seconds, he frowned and pushed through the wires to the panel that made up the dashboard, feeling over the metal. And finally...He found what he was looking for. Scratch marks in patterns. Words? It didn't matter, he had to see. He scooted back and stood up, pulling his tonfas out and jamming the spikes into the metal tile where he felt the scratches and yanking it up. But when he did, he fell back a few feet, hitting the wall behind him. The tile came up without any effort, as if already loosened for them. Nick and Sasha glanced at eachother as Jay excitedly climbed out of the bullhead with the tile.

"YES!!! I knew there was something!!! Ok, uh...Your skills are good ones to use with care, but sometimes blind faith can help you reach your goal...There's a bunch of arrows carved into the metal...In a grid pattern..." he read aloud, then turning the tile to match the orientation it had on the bullhead.

"Oh great, a riddle, thanks Xellos, you asshole." Nick said with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

"No no, I think this...Uh...Blind faith...I-it could refer to something that I specifically can't see with my semblance, or...Uh...Or...Fuck...Come on, THINK..." he growled, pacing back and forth in annoyance, looking over the words on the tile over and over again.

"Maybe...He's just...Referring to...Being blind? Or having your eyes closed?" Nick suggested, shrugging.

"Don't be stupid, that's-...Hm...Blind...Faith...Uh...Hm...I...Maybe..." he muttered, stepping up to the bullhead and aligning himself with the panel's original position. "Um...Hm...Ok, I think...I've got this..." he said, following the first arrow on the grid, that would match their position. He closed his eyes as he walked forward into the trees, Nick and Sasha close behind him. Suddenly he was stopped when Nick grabbed his shoulder before he could hit a tree.

"Uh...Ok...Thanks...Next would be..." he turned and walked upward to the left, as directed by the next arrow at the position he'd found himself.

"So...He carved us a map...Wasn't that nice of him..." Sasha groaned in monotone sarcasm. Nick chuckled as they continued, every now and then Nick reaching out to grab Jay before he ran into another tree. After almost half an hour of walking, they finally came to a small clearing. The trees surrounding the clearing had been cut at by something, and there were jagged lines and holes in the wood of almost all of them. The grass in the clearing had been mowed down smoothly by something...And there in front of them lay an ornate wooden box.

"I was wondering when you'd show..." a voice called into the clearing. It echoed through the trees, making it difficult to determine where it was coming from...But who it was coming from was clear...

"Sorry we took so long...It was difficult to find your map..." Jay called back, as all three of them turned in circles, trying to identify the voice. But even Jay's sight wasn't finding him. But he understood why...The trees surrounding the clearing emanated aura from the black crystals that had been placed inside. The shifting silvery aura still clung to each chunk, making it difficult to see past them.

"What exactly is this, Xellos...A trap? Do you really intend to kill us?" Nick called, still looking around.

"No...Although it's true that doing so now could...Potentially solve a few problems...It's too late for that though...But...I believe your teams...May hold a more substantial and...Utilitarian long term solution to any of those problems. I need your help now. Or none of us will make it through the coming war." Xellos called, his voice becoming more quiet. Everyone's nerves were suddenly on edge as they heard footsteps through the brush around them. The sound was a little faint, however, barely echoing through the clearing.

"Coming war? What war? With who?" Sasha demanded, reaching for her sword.

"Please understand...If I had time to tell you, I would...But as I understand, there's a fortress to the east that your huntress and...Tiny cat faunus teammate...Are currently clearing out. I've already scoped the place out myself...And I know they'll be done soon. I can't exactly stick around for when they return...Especially your windy huntress commander." he answered.

"Ha, scared to go round two with Mickey? You should be. She's in much better shape this time. And you know what...I wager you're not in nearly as great shape as you were last time." Nick taunted, crossing his arms and nudging Jay's side.

"Hehehe...Yes, it's true...I doubt I would hold as well this time...Especially with you four by her side. I apologize...I wish I could face you and give you what you need...But the box before you is all I can give...Take it. May it serve you better than it did me and my friends." he said as the footsteps became a little more clear. The three of them looked at eachother for a few seconds. They weren't sure it was a trap or not...But the curiosity was too much for Jay, who quickly stepped up to the box. Tentatively, he reached down and picked up the box. Nothing..."Did you expect a trap? Like I said...Killing you now would be far more harmful than it would be advantageous..." Xellos called with a chuckle as the footsteps stopped.

"He's watching us...He has to be close by..." Sasha grumbled, digging her nails into her palms.

"Or he's just got a surveillance bug nearby. And besides, it doesn't matter. We're not here for him, are we Jay." Nick said, hugging Sasha against himself. Jay simply shook his head as he opened the box to reveal a single solitary Scroll.

"It used to be in paper form...But I thought this would be much easier to use...So I traded the paper and had the scans put on that scroll...But don't worry, those are still the only copies in existence. The rest have been destroyed. Now go...Our time is up...Oh, and if you don't mind, tell Alice that Ebony said hello..." he called out.

"Xellos, wait!!!" Jay shouted into the trees. "I want you to know...We're grateful for your help, really...But don't make the mistake of thinking we'll let you go. When this...War...You warn us about is over...We're coming for you...And you're going to answer for your crimes." he warned, getting a smile of agreement from Sasha and Nick.

There was silence for a few seconds, "...Young scholar...I look forward to it. Keep going now...I'll meet you there." he called one final time before his voice stopped. Now there was nothing but silence in the clearing.

"What's...On the scroll?" Sasha asked as she and Nick walked up behind Jay. Their jaws dropped at what they saw though.

"W-what...The fuck kinda sick shit  **is** this..." Nick asked as he looked over the pictures included in the autopsy reports...

* * *

 

Rachel sighed as she continued fiddling with her hair, spinning it tightly around her fingers, trying to find any excuse not to pay attention to Professor Port's teachings. As one of the few teams already done with their mission, team SCRT now had to sit in a nearly empty classroom and listen to these extra credit classes. Even the twins seemed to be dozing off, having not slept very well that night. It was difficult to get past shared nightmares they had from the blood that splattered them at the end of their deadly encounter. But even more, it was hard to sleep through how awake they'd all felt after their mission. None of them were sure whether or not they should be scared of the warning they received at the end of it, excited to start a life as a huntsman, or huntress of action, or just extremely nervous.

"This...Sucks...Why do we have to sit through this boring class again, Sam?" Rachel muttered as silently as possible to the team leader, sitting to her left.

"Because...Uh...I...Don't know...Because we do..." he responded, trying to keep his eyes open.

"Seriously, Sam, she's right...This is boring as fuck...Let's go do something fun...Or at least take a nap first..." the twins whispered. Port didn't even register the noise through his ranting.

"No, we can't just leave...Our grades are good and all, but extra credit may help us get in good favor with Goodwitch, which will be beneficial to us later..." he responded in an insistent tone. Rachel groaned and slumped her head on the table.

"You there, are you listening? There will be a test on this..." Professor Port called back to them after hearing Rachel's head hit the desk.

"No sir, I'm afraid none of us are listening...We're all a bit unwell after our mission, may we please be excused for the remainder of the week?" Rachel responded immediately, raising her head. The twins matched her frown, trying to follow her lead to get out of class. Sam sighed and matched them too. After all, if his team didn't want to be here, it wasn't in his right to make them stay...Especially since these classes were really optional for the first years returning from missions.

"Well, that is to be expected...After all, you have just been through something quite exhausting. Why, when I was your age, on my first trip out with my grandfather, I had to spend a week hiding in a cave recovering on nothing but beetles after having an ursa nearly tear me in half. My grandpa wrestled the beast to the forest floor, and when he found me in that cave, he showed me how to fashion a sewing needle and thread with just grass and bark!! He fixed me up and we returned home a week later. But I was a strong lad, and was back on my feet in no time...Uh...O-of course the moral of the story is that I went through different times, and I understand if you're not feeling well. So yes, you are excused for the remainder of the extra credit classes." he rambled, only prolonging the struggle that Rachel put herself through not to snap at her teacher. The twins simply groaned silently until they could get up and quietly leave with their team.  They walked through the halls for about five minutes before realizing that none of them had a clue where exactly they were going. The realization stopped them all dead in their tracks.

"Uh...Wait a minute..." Sam said in confusion, looking around.

"Sam, come on, let's get back to the dorm room and take a nap..." Rachel mumbled, leaning her head against a wall.

"Ok, how many of us would really be able to sleep?" he asked immediately, looking around at his team. As tired as they looked, none of them really wanted to sleep. "...Anyone?...You two haven't had an hours rest not interrupted by nightmares since we stayed at Sid's...And you...I'm not quite sure why you haven't slept...You just seem agitated and insomnia ridden lately..." he said, putting his hand on Rachel's shoulder.

She scowled, "Well what about you?! Have you even closed your eyes since Sid's? Have you even  **felt** tired? You haven't even  **tried** to sleep. What are  **you** afraid of, huh?!" she retorted immediately, taking a step closer to Sam, forcing him to take a step back.

"I'm afraid of something you guys didn't even see...The aura those people had was  **poisonous.** Innocent people were infected with...W-with...An abomination that took their lives!! Lives that we should have been able to save..." he answered, raising his hands defensively. The atmosphere had suddenly shifted from empty to tense, and they all felt it.

"We didn't see it, really...But we all felt it sure enough...You just perceived it a little stronger..." the twins muttered, trying to subtly move Sam and Rachel apart. Their sudden argument was something that hadn't happened since the day they met. It was the only argument they'd ever had.

"I wish at the very least we could...Learn more about what that was...Who created it...If we could..." Sam trailed off, shrugging.

"We could...Go and see the remaining victims in the hospital...Weren't they transported to a privately owned place near the edge of Vale? It'd be a ten minute trip there and back...Just to get some closure..." the twins offered, glancing at eachother as they spoke.

"Well, they're in comas last time we asked, so I don't see how exactly we could get anything out of them..." Sam muttered.

Rachel sighed, "Well...Maybe their aura has become clean again...Maybe we can at least see that they're...Not gone..." she said quietly, crossing her arms and glancing sidelong at Sam. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, considering what to do.

"Ok...How many are in favor of going to see the victims?" Sam asked, putting his hands together in front of his nose and leaning back against the wall. Everyone silently raised their hands. Sam nodded, "Alright...Someone call up the office and ask for a pilot to get us into Vale..." he said as the group began to walk again. Rachel had already pulled her scroll out before he asked though. "And while we wait...Let's grab some coffee..." he said, putting on a smile for his team. But when they smiled in return, his stuck for real.

It took them ten minutes to reach the cafeteria from the place they'd found themselves, which had apparently been the dorms for visiting students. They all ordered coffee for themselves, with Rachel asking for hers to be extra sweet, and sat down, Rachel next to Sam, across from the twins. Beacon's coffee had always been quite exceptional, as any teacher would tell you. There was a school legend that Headmaster Ozpin spent thousands of lien commissioning hundreds of coffee brands all over the four kingdoms to find the best coffee makers, then brought them to Beacon, all to have easy access to his favorite caffeinated drink. It was also said that Oobleck went insane during this endeavor, being forced to taste-test so much coffee with Ozpin, that it now ran through his veins, which was the reason for his extreme love of the drink. The team had fun speculating how much of this rumor Ozpin himself started.

It was at least enheartening to enjoy this time in good humor for once after their mission. But the prospect of getting to see the remaining victims and their state had everyone filled with anticipation, baited breath that seemed to wake them up. Or perhaps it was just the coffee was extra caffeinated. None of them could tell, and none of them even thought about it. The only thought they all shared was a hope that the only surviving victims of that night would be at the very least on the road to recovery. After about half an hour, when everyone was finished with their coffee and sharing idle small talk, as well as a little lighthearted teasing at Chris for his upcoming first date, Rachel's scroll beeped a few times, signaling the arrival of the pilot, who was now waiting for them on the runway. They all used the pent up energy raising eachother to the runway, with the twins coming in first, followed by Rachel, then Sam. The bullhead started up as they climbed in, Sam leaning forward to thank the pilot for coming out on such short notice. It was the least he could do.

The ride to Vale was filled with even more palpable tension than their earlier argument, with no one speaking up even the slightest about where they were going. Somehow they worried that even the slightest mention of the victims would jinx the chances that they were doing well. The silence wasn't that difficult for any of them to deal with. It wouldn't be lasting very long anyway, and the tension that filled the group wasn't bad...It was consuming. Making it feel pointless to even talk about the possibilities before they got there. When they landed, they didn't waste any time running the singular mile from the airfield to the hospital on Vale's eastern border. They crashed through the doors in a huffy mass, almost slamming into the counter. The man behind the counter almost fell right out of his chair when they came clashing with the counter, but she quickly straightened himself and spoke.

"Can...Ahem, c-can I help you? Y-you seem to be a team of students..." he observed, noting the odd outfits they wore, coupled with the fact that there were four of them. This was a Beacon hospital, after all. This was one of the many places hunters were taken when they were harmed in the line of duty. Luckily, this was also the hospital where any civilians under Beacon custody or protection went when they were injured during a task in Beacon's jurisdiction.

"That is precisely what we are. My name is Samuel, I'm the leader of team SCRT, that's S-C-R-T, we're here to see a group of men in a coma. We should be on their case file, and according to the Beacon handbook, we should have privilege to visit them. W-which is what we're doing." Sam said, speaking quickly and producing his scroll for verification. The man cleared his throat again and nodded, shakily taking Sam's scroll and scanning it under a small machine that quickly read the user data in the scroll before he handed it back to Sam. He looked over Sam's profile on the computer and searched the hospital's database for casefiles with credentials that matched his.

"Y-yes, we have them, fourth floor, hall 13. You'll all have to scan your scrolls at the door for entrance, we have them on lockdown...I don't see how they're marked as dangerous though, they're in comas for gods sakes..." he muttered to himself. Team SCRT scrambled to shout back a thank you as they dashed to the elevator. After about two minutes of standing there in intense annoyance, the elevator doors opened and they immediately dashed inside, slamming on the button for floor four. It took less than a minute for the faster than normal hospital elevator to reach the fourth floor, suddenly everyone was slow to climb out of the elevator. They walked more anxiously to find hall 13, suddenly much more frightened by what they'd find. When they came to the door for hall 13, they found the curtains drawn. They all looked at the scanner to the right of the door, but no one pulled out their scrolls.

"S-so...Here we are..." Sam muttered.

"Uh...Y-yeah...Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." Rachel said next.

"No...No, this...T-this was a good idea. Come on...We have to see...You two...You haven't slept well since you watched him die...You have to see that these people aren't going to die in the same way...That you're safe from their blood...Rachel, you're just feeling exhausted...I'm...Not quite sure what it is...Maybe...Maybe it's not even mission related for you, but...I need to see this...I need to have some peace..." he explained, looking at Rachel in anticipation.

She said nothing for a few seconds before sighing, "Alright...Let's...Get this over with..." she conceded, pulling her scroll out first and scanning it. The twins immediately followed suit, having already been itching to reach for their scrolls, but not wanting to be the first. They scanned theirs quickly before Sam nodded his thanks to Rachel and scanned his own. The door unlocked and they all walked into the room together, closing their eyes out of anxiety. The room was brightly lit, and the seven survivors lay on beds, three on one side, four on the other. The four on the left were the men captured on the day of the Breach. The three on the other were the only survivors from the crash two nights ago. None were awake. There were machines next to all of the beds that kept them alive, but only two for each. One maintained the aura, but the machine struggled, and was clearly needing frequent repair. The other maintained the processes of the body all at once. 

The twins walked through the room towards the end, looking over the machines on their own, trying to determine what the individual compartments did. Sam walked up to the first bed on the right, looking over the man. But it wasn't his body he examined. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the aura that filled the room...The scents of each aura changed dramatically, but they were still...

"Toxic..." he muttered, frowning and covering his eyes with his palm. Rachel walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, looking over the man with him.

"Still?..." she said, moving her hand to the other shoulder and pulling him closer.

"Not...N-not nearly as bad as last time...Those four are worse than these ones, but...The toxic smell is still there...Normally, I can tell alot about people by the way their aura smells, but...I don't know anything about these people...What type of people they were...I wonder...If...I can just..." he muttered, reaching out to place his palm against the man's chest.

His hand was snatched away by Rachel's, "You can't...You told me how that works...That aura will poison you...How will you sleep then?" she asked, keeping her eyes on his.

He sighed, "I'm not really sure I could have removed the poison even if I tried...Maybe it would have worked? But you're right...It probably would have put me in a hospital bed too...And we both know that can't happen..." he answered, sitting down against the wall and looking at the twins, who still walked bed to bed on the left. "I can still smell the twins' cottoncandy aura from here...I couldn't during the fight the other night...So at least...This shows they're getting better...That's good..." he said, a sigh still filling his voice.

Rachel went to sit next to him, "Cottoncandy...Certainly fitting for them...Hm...Perhaps we should go...We know that they're getting better...We can try and get some sleep..." she offered, taking one of his hands.

He shook his head, "We should let the twins determine how they feel before we go...And then maybe we could get some lunch...And take a nap..." he answered, putting his arm around Rachel's shoulder. It was at that moment that they suddenly realized that the twins stood in front of them.

"So?...Are they really going to be ok?" they asked, looking to Sam.

He paused, opening his mouth and closing it again, "Uhh, oh...Yeah, as far as I can tell...They're going to recover...Given a year or two...Unless this toxicity is fatal once it leaves the aura, then they're...Going to be ok..." he answered, rubbing his forehead. The twins glanced at eachother and offered their hands to Rachel and Sam, who both took them and stood.

"Where are we going next then, fearless leader?" they said together. They already looked at least a little more chill than they had this morning.

"Lunch...Then...A nap." he answered, turning and opening the door, leading them out of the room and out of the hospital down to the elevator again. The tension had been dispelled, at least mostly. They still had some bad thoughts to work through...But at least this time they could give sleep a try. Rachel called their pilot to let him know they were ready to return. They'd be glad to get some lunch at Beacon rather than any place in Vale. For now, they wanted to stay out of Vale, or put off revisiting it for as long as they could...So in silence they returned to the airfield on their way home.

Originally, they'd all intended to get lunch. They even asked eachother what they were going to get on the way home, just to ease the silence. But as soon as they got within walking range of the dorms, they all seemed to simply forget about that. They sauntered slowly back to their room and silently unlocked it, barely taking the effort to collapse onto their own beds. The twins, already feeling exhaustion, barely managed to climb up to their top bunks and groan a general grunt of relief before falling asleep. Sam almost went to lay in his own bed, but he was stopped again by Rachel's hand.

"Uh...Remember how you said I was exhausted? You were right...But um...I know I don't normally like things like this...I mean I barely managed an hour of sleep in the same bed as Tia and...Her girlfriend...But uh...Could you help me get to sleep? A-and it's not anything...Sexual...Or...Like...That...I just...Would sleep better with someone I trust..." she muttered, trying to be quiet so the twins could stay asleep. Though at that point the twins were already deep into sleep, and wouldn't have woken.

But Sam nodded all the same with his charismatic smile, "In a completely non-sexual, platonically romantic state...I would be happy to sleep with you, Rachel..." he said. They both shared a slight laugh at the play on the term and awkwardly climbed into Rachel's bed together. They didn't cuddle as close as a physically intimate couple would, but they it was enough just to be close. Just to lay within eachother's space and share it with eachother. No one bothered changing clothing or removing any. It didn't matter...They still slept just as soundly.

* * *

 

The door slammed shut behind Anna, who slumped down, trying to catch her breath for a few seconds before looking up. Mickey was also starting to breath heavy, and had her hands on her knees, trying to rest before straightening herself and offering her hand to Anna to stand.

"I fucking hate the cone bullshit shape of this place...It only means more rooms on the next floor, and we still have two more and the courtyard..." she groaned, stretching her shoulders.

Mickey nodded, patting her shoulders gently, "I agree...Did you do it though?" she asked.

Anna nodded in return, "Yes, all their weapons are unusable and they're currently incapacitated." she answered.

"Good girl...Now where were we?" she asked as they stood and began walking again to the next room.

"Uh...Grades, I think?..." she offered, shrugging.

"Oh yeah...I noticed your grades are picking up lately...That's good, but remember, you can always ask me for help with something you don't understand..." she said, pausing at the corner and ducking to look around.

"Nah, that's ok...Honestly, I can understand it all pretty well...And anything else I don't, I've got a good tutor...Maybe you two have seen eachother around..." she joked, smiling a little.

Mickey chuckled, "Yeah, I think so...That's good, I'm glad you're doing good...So uh...One last question." she quickly dashed out into the hallway and unleashed the last bits of dust that still clung to her fans, slamming the men guarding the stairs into the doors. She and Anna immediately ran into silence them and get the key to the next floor. The door clicked open and they walked slowly and silently up the long stairwell.

"So...That question?..." Anna whispered.

"Oh!! Thank you...Um...So you kids...Are uh...Pretty...Together...But uh...You guys haven't been...Doing anything you shouldn't, right? You know, no sex?" she asked casually as they approached the next floor.

"Uuuh...Well, I don't know about Nick and Sasha, that's none of my business, but for us, no, not yet..." she answered, shaking her head.

"Yet?" Mickey questioned, looking sidelong at Anna, "Look, it's none of my business really if you kids are intimate, but-"

"No no, we understand, that's why I said yet...We're kinda...Waiting...We talk about it alot, ask eachother questions about things we like or want to try and stuff like that...And to be honest, I think Nick and Sasha are the same in that way...I mean that's just my impression...But yeah, not yet, don't worry about it..." she answered.

Mickey stopped at the door, nodding and listening carefully through her voice, "Alright, good, that's...Good...Just...Do that...Aaand..." she slammed her heel into the door and it cracked open, smacking the two raiders who stood guard and knocking them out. They quickly hurried up to gather their weapons and break the ones the two had held before moving on towards the rooms on this floor. "And remember to also do your research...You're allowed to ask about things, you know...It's not a crime..." she continued.

"Uh, Mickey, is now really the best time to have this talk?" Anna asked, pulling her axe from her back and slicing through the lock to the largest center room on the floor. It looked to be a collaboration room of some sort...And luckily for them, this room was incredibly large, with a large walkway with stairs down to this floor. "Oh thank gods...This room is for both this floor and the next..." she mumbled.

"Get down." Mickey demanded as she swept her fans from the pouches, filled now with wind dust. The men in the room had already pulled their weapons up and fired. But the bullets moved more slowly the closer they came...Before Mickey swung both fans as hard as she could. Anna barely had the time to jump back and yank the doors shut behind her. Her breath was heavy as she slumped back against the door, pressing her ear to it to hear. But she couldn't hear anything but a viciously loud white noise. The wind, of course...There was no other sound. But at the least if the wind hadn't stopped, that was a good sign. After a minute, the wind died down, and the noise vanished. Anna turned and pushed the door open.

Mickey was walking around the room, breaking the weapons they held. When she saw Anna at the door, she sighed, "Anna, there's no better time than the present to talk about how my kids are doin'..." she said. Her breath was getting heavier too, showing the fatigue on her face. Anna opened and closed her mouth a couple times in shock.

"Alright, well...Let me just reassure you that you've got nothing to worry about...If you did, I'd tell you...You trust us, right?" Anna asked, quickly dashing over to the stairs and around the walkway, quickly locking the doors from this side.

"Of course...You're right, forget it...Alright, let's get going. We still have to clear out this floor before that one." she said, half sighing at the thought as they ran back out of the room. But evidently the commotion had already caught attention. They could hear scrambling on the floor above them and muffled shouting in almost all directions. "Fuck. So uh...This ain't a stealth mission anymore. So close." she sighed again, shaking her head as the first volley of raiders came around the corner in the hall in front of them. Only one of them wielded a gun, the other two held swords.

"Alright, my turn. Get down." Anna demanded, digging into her conviction and swinging her axe in one wide upward arch. Mickey jumped back out of the way of the blade, which Anna had to swing all the way around. But the aurawave that she produced was still powerful. It cracking the floor tiles it swam over, slamming through all three of the men, destroying their armor and weapons and easily knocking them unconscious.

"Um...Alright, new plan..." Mickey said, grabbing Anna's collar and pulling her back into the wide open conference room and slamming the door behind her, then shutting the lock down. "We just kinda have to control their flow into this room, and take them out as they come...We can handle that...And before long, we'll have a chance to move...Sound good?" she said, turning to Anna, who was sitting on the floor with her axe leaned up against her shoulder.

"Yeah...Sounds good..." she answered, rolling her eyes. This was obviously going to be a long day. Mickey sighed and dashed around the room, quickly locking the doors as more and more attention was drawn to them. When she approached Anna again, Anna had stood and was getting into a good stance.

"Alright...Let's meet the victims behind door number one!!" Mickey said dramatically, approaching the first door to let a few foes in. But before she had the chance, they both turned at the sound of a door opening and closing shut behind them. The figure that walked down onto the floor with them was a tall burly appearing fellow, who wore black pants and heavy looking combat boots that echoed through the room. His loose blue shirt was decorated with a tight fitting brown band around his stomach, and brown shoulder pads. Long brown hair was tied back, revealing a high forehead, and almost yellow eyes. On his back was a long brown staff with clear crystals inlaid in lines down two sides of the staff body.

"Mickey...So you got my message? It's good to see you." he muttered silently. On the band around his stomach was what Anna could only assume was his symbol An ornate sun with the sunbeams moving inward towards the center instead of outwards.

"Wait a minute...Message?" Anna asked suddenly, realizing what he'd said.

"Sorry, Anna...I really should have told you kids...But um...It didn't come up until our conversation in the tunnel..." Mickey mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Um, ok, so why didn't you tell me then?" she demanded. The sounds of the men and women gathering outside the doors grew louder, filling the room with a distinct background noise of stamping and crashing.

"Because it sounded like you'd already worked it out...You literally told me right there that you knew it was going to be Sol..." she retorted.

"No, I said it'd be funny if it was, because I've read that book, you could have jus-"

"Enough!!...Honestly...Where are your heads?..." Sol interrupted Anna. His voice was light, in stark contrast to his heavy-set appearance.

"Funny, I was gonna ask where your body went...You're certainly not the frail kid we left behind..." Mickey responded sarcastically.

"Yes, well, I did what I had to do to survive after you and the rest of our team left me for dead. I was quite tired of being frail and weak, so I worked to change myself...And I must say I'm pleased with the results...Hm...Let me guess...This little one is part of the team you're...Chaperoning?" he said, beginning to laugh and crossing his arms, "Oh goodness, I can still hardly picture it...Mickey the Storm, babysitting first-years!! Was that your plan? You brought a team of kiddies to help bring me in!!!" he said, doubling over with laughter.

"I didn't actually come here to babysit..." she muttered confidently. She then turned to Anna and sheathed her fans, "After seeing him again, it's only affirmed what I thought...You can handle this guy on your own...Some things you'll need to know...He may look big, but I doubt he's strong...The problem is that he's fast...Too fast for Sasha to deal with...His weapon is that staff...Those crystals on the staff will absorb any dust-based attack, which allows him to use his semblance." as Mickey explained this to Anna, Sol had stopped laughing and had taken on a serious expression, though his cocky smile remained. He did nothing to intervene. "His semblance allows him to absorb the element of any dust crystal he touches, and use that power directly with his aura...So Jay and Nick's dust based weaponry wouldn't have worked...That left you. Remember, he ma-"

"He may look big, but I shouldn't be intimidated, I can handle this?" Anna interrupted her. Mickey looked somewhat surprised for a moment. "I told you, I've read this book before..." she answered the expression.

"Alright then...I'll be back in about twenty minutes...Be careful Anna...Don't die on us." she said as she approached the door behind her.

"What?...You're going to leave this child for me to kill? And you're going to just...Go off and la-di-da, fight the army outside those doors?" Sol asked incredulously.

"Wow...You're were  **never** this arrogant before...And besides, there may be an army out there, but there are two of them in here..." Mickey chuckled to herself, "Well I suppose  **you're** here too, but...You never could handle an army, could you Sol." she snapped as she undid the lock. She pulled out a single fan and pulled the door open, surprising the raiders on the other side, who immediately caught a blast of wind to the face as Mickey swung both fans to knock them back, then turn and lock the door manually before closing it behind her. The chaos outside the doors immediately grew louder as Anna readied herself. Sol chuckled and reached for his staff.

"How unfortunate that you had to be left to die here, child...But don't worry...She did the same to me..." Sol muttered, anger clear in his eyes at the thought.

"Well then you should remember how that went last time...Don't you worry about me...I'm not going to die here...My soul is much. **Much** more powerful than yours." she retorted, steeling her resolve...

* * *

 

The fire turned blue on Nick's palm as he pressed the metal tile back in place, welding it from the back onto the frame and getting it soft to straighten again. He thought to himself how insane it was that he was doing this...He'd done clean up on crime scenes for people before, but that was always to clean up something that framed an innocent person. This was the scene of a guilty man...Who they were now going to help. For a few seconds he wondered to himself if he would ever have taken a job from Xellos in his old days. He shook his head, glancing back at Sasha and Jay, the former of whom paced back and forth, rubbing her forehead. This was usually the behavior of the latter, who instead sat against the tree, reading intently from the scroll Xellos had given them.

"Are you done?" Sasha demanded, swinging her sword idly to occupy herself.

"Why? Where are you going? If you've got a more pressing engagement, let me know, I'll speed it up for you. Until then, shut it, will ya?" Jay retorted, not moving his eyes from the scroll. They shifted back and forth between gold and red, which was odd for him. Nick rolled his eyes and continued to look around the scene for anything out of place. The last thing he'd have to do was weld the panel on which Xellos had carved their path, and erase the map.

Sasha sighed and began swinging her sword with more agitation, groaning to herself, "So what does he expect us to do with a bunch of files? What are we preparing for?..."

"I think...I have...A general idea...Alright, I haven't finished all the files, so I'm not sure, but for the most part, these files archive the details of some...Serum experiments?..." Jay started, shaking his head as he kept reading. Nick was just placing the final panel in place before he'd activate the cloaking field again and they'd go. Luckily for them, and something they were quite thankful for, was Xellos' efforts to clear out the Grimm in that area. Sasha almost spoke, but before she could, Jay raised a hand to silence her and gestured to Nick so they could wait for him. After a minute, Nick pressed the button to activate the cloaking device, which flared to life, immediately erasing the crashed bullhead, and Nick with it, who walked out a minute later, clapping his hands together with pride.

"Could you guys do that? I don't think so...Alright, so where were we?" Nick said as Jay climbed to his feet.

"Uh...Let's get back to the Sentinel, and I'll tell you on the way." he said, waiting for Nick and Sasha to start walking before he did. "Alright, so like I said, these seem to document experiments to develop some sort or super serum?...Or is it...It's weird..." he started, shaking his head as they walked.

"Weird how?" Nick asked, watching Jay's path to make sure he wouldn't walk into a tree.

"Weird like...I don't know, all of these files make mention to some...Apparatus...For which these serums' purposes differ..." he responded as Nick nudged him gently to the right.

"What kind of apparatus?" Nick asked next.

Jay shrugged his hand off, "Well let me speak, and I'll tell you...Um...Well it doesn't say anything else, it just refers to it as 'The Apparatus...' Which...Apparently doesn't work on faunus? Apparently there's something in their genetics that makes them...Insusceptible to it...Um...So there are three versions of the serum itself...Serum 1-452 and serum 2-244 are the main two...These serums were developed by...Well well...None other than Leif Malladus...Serum 1-452 is referred to as 'Iron Man,' and while serum 2-244 is referred to as 'Common Mask'...Common Mask is an attempt to make the Apparatus function properly on faunus, which...Has mixed results...There are alot of references to the 'Monster skull?' Which from the details seems to be...Their grimm experiments...They collected data from the implants in grimm to try and make this serum...It worked in some cases, and the file says 'The Apparatus functions properly,' but the subjects all died...The autopsies show some rather gruesome images of...The brain being covered in veins of iron that burst from the blood vessels...Apparently it caused some sort of separation in the proteins that make up red blood cells, blah blah blah, but all the deaths appear to be associated with iron in one way or another..."

"Wow...So at least that's something...It doesn't work on faunus..." Nick said, glancing at Sasha.

"Yeah, but then there's Iron Man...Which is some sort of...Attempt to create a superhuman...From the files here, it says there is no account of the Apparatus being used on huntsman? So whatever it does, it doesn't work on huntsman either...So I guess they want to make people...Equal to huntsman? I don't know...Um..." Jay suddenly stopped talking when Nick pulled him out of the way of another tree. "Damnit, Nick...Um...Anyway...Iron Man seems to...Do something to people...Make them powerful...From the files, they were tested against Leif and Iskelle, who were the best in their year...Um...No survivors though...But causes of death vary...Um...Some were just killed in combat, others...Suffered grisly deaths from the serums, which they're still experimenting on, apparently...Wait a minute..." Jay said, frowning and looking back through the files.

"What?...Jay?...Hello?" Nick stopped, glancing back at Jay.

"Um...Apparently that freighter and the facility in the forest we took down were two of their key research facilities..." Jay said, clicking on file attachments of the named facilities.

"But we didn't recover any data from those places, how key could they have been?" Sasha asked, crossing her arms.

"That's because they cleared them out of all data before we could get to it...They were smart...But apparently, Xellos saved stuff he wasn't supposed to. Lucky for us...It doesn't list any other facilities, just the ones that the experiments took place in...But yeah..." he answered.

"Xellos  **did** say someone above him was coming for us, right? I guess we now know what we did to get their attention..." Nick muttered, shaking his head and sighing.

"But wait, you said there were  **three** serums...What's the third?" Sasha asked, stopping with them.

Jay started walking again as he answered, "Oh, well there are only thirteen files on it, it's...Kind of a middle ground between Iron Man and Common Mask referred to as 'Common Man...' Just thirteen files about regular people who aren't faunus taking this Common Man, all the files say 'The Apparatus functions properly,' and there's not a single recorded death among them...Wow, funny thing, the Common Man was the first properly working serum, and it was developed at about the time that Leif Malladus went missing...So they didn't just pick him out because he was a good fighter..." he answered, scanning through the remaining files he hadn't looked at.

"So the serums aren't functioning properly, except for that Common Man thing...And not only that, but they're also down their head developer...Um...Wow, we may have made a huge mistake..." Sasha said.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on...There's one more...An early development...Made before even Leif arrived, but it's still the last file here...It's marked with a priority stamp for some reason...Serum 4-001, 'Surrendered Blood...' It's...Wow, holy shit...This is the only recorded case of a serum working on a faunus...Not only that, but this faunus was recorded to be 'the equal of many professional huntsman'...His name is Jakob...Spelled with a K...Apparently his Semblance is...Control over blood and iron...His control of iron is limited to any iron within his body, but it says his control over blood is unparalleled. His file has...Nothing...Except a few records of his talents...Including the ability to disrupt other people's movements from far away...Uh, it says that ability is weak and sometimes inconsistent compared to his ability to control the density and flow of blood he comes in-" Jay stopped suddenly with wide eyes and looked away from the scroll. Sasha and Nick were shocked...Not much had the ability to make Jay look away like that.

"Jay?...What's wro- Oh my gods..." Sasha stopped as she and Nick came to stand next to Jay and look at the pictures.

"I-is that...A body? What...What happened to it?" Nick said, trying to identify what he was looking at. The pictures on the screen showed what looked like mangled corpses that had been completely turned inside out. Their entire body's volume of blood had been splattered in every direction, even against the cieling. Their joints were torn open, revealing bone and muscle and innards, which were twisted and dyed red with blood. The heads were missing in most pictures. In each picture, there was what appeared to be a figure, facing away from the camera...While even the camera lense had a splatter of blood, there was a v-shaped gap in the splatter where the figure was standing, suggesting that he hadn't been hit by a single drop of blood.

"Ahem...W-well...Apparently, his strongest power is the ability to control the blood of anyone he comes in contact with...He can...Ahem, pool the blood out of his body and use it as weaponry...And if he touches you...H-he can do this to you...And basically shred you apart from the inside using your own blood...He's the only faunus that hasn't died from his serum, but apparently the only reason he survived was because of his semblance...The serum used on him was...Far more invasive and volatile in nature than the others, as it was far less refined...But...Wow...There are people who I'd really like to do this too, but...Gods, it's still hard to look at...And even that little bit of me is just...Not ok with this..." he muttered, shaking his head and closing the scroll as they continued. They walked in silence for a few minutes more...Or perhaps it was more than a few minutes...None of them even tried to keep track as they suddenly found themselves before the giant metal pillar that lead to the train tracks where the Sentinel and their bags were waiting for them.

Sasha grabbed Nick by the collar and tossed him up to the ladder, from which he hung down to pull Jay and Sasha up onto the ladder with him so they could climb up to the top. Their stuff sat, undisturbed as they'd left it. They half expected the bags to be covered in dust, especially because it felt like an eternity ago that they'd put them down. They all sat down, tossing Xellos' scroll back and forth, looking through the files for themselves. Silence dragged on as it had done dozens of times before. No one tried to interrupt it, no one seemed the least bit bothered in comparison to what they were thinking.

"Guys...What exactly are we gonna do if they send these monsters after us...Xellos...The freighter...We caught them off guard, and every time they still one-upped us...Xellos stomps us aside...The freighter is mysteriously devoid of data to recover and Xellos is waiting patiently...And then he escapes...What are we gonna do?...We're...Out of our league, here..." Sasha muttered, finally cutting into the thick air that surrounded them. The lights on the Sentinel blinked silently, which seemed to make the silence even more tangible when looked at.

"We're fledgling huntsman...When monsters come for us, we'll do what we're taught to do. Fight on." Jay answered, assuming his position for meditation.

"Hehehe, what a B-Movie line...But you're not wrong...Monsters come for us at every angle...There's nothing  **to** do but fight..." Nick continued, chuckling more to himself and laying back.

Sasha sighed and laid on her stomach, looking out into the forest, whose leaves blew in the silent breeze, "Fight on, then...Guess we'd better be prepared..."

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> A third piece...I never anticipated this chapter would get so long...Sorry about that. This chapter is gonna be more JNAS than SCRT. I think I'll only be placing SCRT's pieces every...Two JNAS ones or so...Thanks for your patience guys...I hope you're enjoying the chapter so far...


End file.
